Tag: peers

I was recently re-elected to be Chair of the Attempt Survivor and Lived Experience Division for AAS. It was a challenging election cycle that required a second, run-off vote. In the candidate statements, my challenger included pointed critiques of my performance as Chair. This brought to mind the quote from President Roosevelt: It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of…

There have been questions from multiple sources about recommendations about use of peers in suicide prevention that are included in The Way Forward, released by the Suicide Attempt Survivors Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. This sparked the series of posts that will present my perspective on the topic. To begin, it seemed right to begin with some basics about what I’m referring to by “peer supports.” What is a peer? A…

We should be more like trees. At least in terms of self-care. I watch the leaves lose their greens, transform into yellows and oranges and pink and red. Then they fall. Why? What next? There will be less sunshine in the Winter. Why waste the energy trying to get energy from the sun? It is better to reserve the energy at the core, the body, the roots. The rest? The branches and twigs. Some can…